It has been a tough year for schools in terms of catching students up from the changes that took place in the spring of 2020 when school was paused in mid-March because of COVID 19. However, at Castle Heights, things are looking up on that score in more ways than one.
First new books are being added to the school library due to a grant that the school has received from the Utah State Library Association. The grant is called the Children and Teen Book Enhancement Grant and the school will soon be getting a $3000.00 check in the mail to buy primarily Caldecott Medal and Newberry Award books that have been produced over the years.
Secondly, the school’s leveled reading program is doing well, particularly considering the fact that nearly everyone started behind where they were last school year.
“As of our mid year scores the students had made some really good progress,” said Principal Wendy Fluckey. “After March 18, which is the end of the quarter, we will have some good solid data on how we are doing now.
I am excited to see what our progress monitoring scores are going to reveal.”
Gaps in learning to read, which creates problems for students until they are filled, is a priority for the staff. Fluckey said they have initiated some Tier 3 interventions for some of the students who are still struggling
with proper gains in reading growth.
“In that situation I meet with the teacher and the instructional coach, and we identify what the student can do, what the next step should be and then we have an aide go and work with that student one-on-one, five days a
week,” she explained. “In two or three weeks, with this intervention, we should see the problematic skill mastered, and then we look for other holes that need to be filled to allow the student to work towards proficiency. If that intervention doesn’t work, then we try again for two to three weeks. If at that point we still do not see growth then we get our special education team involved.”
Fluckey said that another real improvement this year has been in the behavior of students. Many behavior problems in the past have been related to recess issues, many of which pertained to too many grade levels being on the playground together at the same time. Spreading recess times out between grade levels has helped reduce the number of behavior issues related to recess.
“Now instead of spending my time working with students on recess issues, I can concentrate on academics,” she stated with a smile. “Happier kids, happier teachers and happier principal. The Hero program with its rewards and celebrations is working. Students earn points on a daily basis which accumulate to earn the monthly celebrations in their classrooms.”
Dr. Seuss week was held From March 1-5. Each day different activities were held to celebrate the week and the books that were available were being read daily to students.
“We had a great hat day for the celebration and the PTA decorated the foyer of the building and that turned out well,” she concluded.